do you heart huckabee? I sure don’t

I’m lucky to be living in DC. Political news is like the local news here so even if I didn’t want to be politically aware/informed, I can’t help but keep up with stuff. So this post, albeit a bit late, is especially for my friends in Cali and anyone who is politically apathetic/indifferent and still votes. If you’re a registered voter planning on voting in the primaries, you really should know the following information.

Mike Huckabee is currently a GOP candidate for president. He’s from Arkansas and served as governor of Arkansas for 11 years (thank you, Wikipedia). He tried, unsuccessfully, to run for one of the Arkansas U.S. Senate seats in 1992. The race for GOP presidential candidate is pretty much an open field but for some reason, Huckabee seems to be gaining some ground. Maybe it’s because he’s an ordained Baptist minister. Or maybe it’s because he lost 110 pounds at the urging of his physician (and is now a health nut). Or maybe it’s because he got the state of Arkansas to declare that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. Who knows? I’m not a Republican. But something tells me his religiousness is incredibly appealing to Evangelicals who tend to vote red.

But that’s not why I don’t like him. It has recently come to light that Huckabee made some incredibly brainless comments way back in 1992 when he was running for the Senate. These comments were made in an AP questionnaire which has recently become public. And what’s worse is that Huckabee is standing by what he said. Needless to say, the Evangelicals are so happy about this that they’re peeing their pants right now.

Among some of the stuff he said are:

AIDS patients should be isolated from the general public.

“Homosexuality is an aberrant, unnatural and sinful lifestyle, and we now know it can pose a dangerous public health risk."

"The U.S. should not kill Saddam Hussein or anyone else."

Women should not be in combat "because of my strong traditional view that women should be treated with respect and dignity and not subject to the kinds of abuses that could occur in combat."

Living together out of wedlock is demeaning to marriage.

And of course, abortion is wrong, blah, blah, blah.

Huckabee has defended his AIDS comment (which has obviously caused quite a stir in the AIDS activist community) by saying that back then (in 1992), people didn’t know much about AIDS and how it was transmitted. Ha! Oh really? Sure, 1981 presented us with the 4 Hs (the following put you at risk for HIV/AIDS—homosexuals, heroin addicts, hemophiliacs, and Haitians). But the AIDS test was created in 1985. In 1986, HIV was isolated and determined to be the cause of AIDS. By 1987, people had regular access to AZT to treat their disease. As far as most diseases go, the knowledge and awareness of AIDS came about a heck of a lot quicker than other diseases. And frankly, I’m inclined not to believe that, by 1992, people didn’t know what behaviors put you at risk for AIDS. There’s a distinct difference between ignorance and stigma. And frankly, Huckabee’s comments stem from both.

Homosexuality being unnatural is an inherently religious point of view so I’m going to blame this statement on his religiousness.

I’m going to leave the Saddam comment alone, simply because executing him didn’t really bring about any change in the war in Iraq. Who knows what not killing him would’ve done.

That comment about women in combat is a thinly veiled misogynistic comment and is an affront to feminism and equality between the sexes.

Living together is a part of life now. For many people, it is an alternative to marriage (you know, like those gays who can’t get married thanks to people like Huckabee). And for others still, it’s a preparation for marriage. So deal with it, Huckabee. Living together is here to stay and your religiousness can’t do anything about it.

The comment about abortion is not surprising. Whatevs.

The fact of the matter is that Huckabee stands by these comments because he still believes them. With primaries around the corner, please think before you vote.

After all, do you really want the next leader of the free world (wait, the world hates us now, can we still call our president that?) to think that women shouldn’t be in combat and that homosexuality is a public health risk?